1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a buckle for joining a belt, a wrist watch band, etc.
2. Related Art
This type of buckle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,858. The buckle comprises a pair of male and female members adapted to couple with each other. The male member includes a tongue-shaped presser plate and locking legs mounted on the lower side of the presser plate. The female member includes a case having a hollow chamber therein and locking members provided in the hollow chamber. The legs of the presser plate are engageable with the locking membered in the chamber so as to couple the male member with the female member. In order to couple the male member with the female member, first the tongue-shaped presser plate of the male member is placed in situ above the locking members of the female member. Then, the tongue-shaped presser plate is pressed against the female member until the locking means provided on the distal end of the legs come into locking engagement with the locking members of the female member so that the male member is coupled with the female member. In order to bring the male member out of coupling engagement with the female member, the actuating levers provided on the opposed sides of the female member are pressed toward each other against their own resiliency, thereby bringing the locking members provided on the lever out of locking engagement with the locking means of the male member, so that the male member is sprung up out of coupling engagement with the female member.
The above conventional buckle has a drawback. The distal end of the tongue-shaped presser plate of the male member projects beyond the corresponding edge of the female member, thus being liable to be caught by some other things. Furthermore, the actuating levers also project beyond the opposed side edges of the female member, thus being also liable to be caught by some other things. Furthermore, the projecting actuating levers are also liable to be accidentally compressed by some other things, leading to unexpected decoupling of the male member from the female member.